setting up company at home...

x in the city

Hi Folks

I was thinking of setting up my own place here at home to fix laptops (I mean like opening them up and doing a lot of rework here as well as software related issues), and possibly mobile phones also.

Where I live there does not seem to be a lot of services in the sticks for this and of course other shops charge a fortune for this stuff.

Is my idea realistic or difficult to set up, and how does one get advertising? can you avail of a scheme to get the ball running to cover initial set up costs?

cheers.

jonsnow

There is no reason to think that this is not a viable option. What is required though is research on your behalf. That is the first step research all possible competition then use this information to create a bsuiness plan. If you are not currently working then that is no problem, but if you are it will be more time consuming. What you wish to identify is who are your target customers, what revenue you will be happy with, etc...

Enterprise Ireland and the county enterprise boards are very helpful in this regard and will let you know if a grant is available. You will need to show them a definite business model.

If you have no experience creating one I would suggest getting help from www.elance.com , you can get professional help here quite cheap as you hold an auction for what you require done.

also check out

http://www.enterpriseboards.ie/
www.enterpriseireland.com
www.fiscalstudent.com

tuxedo

x in the city wrote: »

Hi Folks

I was thinking of setting up my own place here at home to fix laptops (I mean like opening them up and doing a lot of rework here as well as software related issues), and possibly mobile phones also.

Where I live there does not seem to be a lot of services in the sticks for this and of course other shops charge a fortune for this stuff.

Is my idea realistic or difficult to set up, and how does one get advertising? can you avail of a scheme to get the ball running to cover initial set up costs?

cheers.

There is a pretty run business like that in my city, a guy had a taken a kiosk out to let in a very busy shopping centre, stayed for a month or two and then 'relocated' to his home garage...

he got his name out there and then cut most of his costs!! he now calls to the customers home/workplace and collects the computer, takes it home does the work and drops it back for a good fee undercutting all competition.

the only problem i could see was he up sticks for the unit, in my opinion he should have fully done it from home or took the gamble on the shop...

but it has worked for him...

swanvill

Hi Definitely ring your county enterprise board and look for grants/ business plan. You should also register a business name. There are many tax advantageous with working from home, pm if you need further info.

conolan

swanvill wrote: »

Hi Definitely ring your county enterprise board and look for grants/ business plan. You should also register a business name. There are many tax advantageous with working from home, pm if you need further info.

County enterprise board won't support that kind of business, and quite right too. You'd need to be developing something or getting business from abroad to justify grants.

However, you should be able to get the business working. Very few overheads. Place ads in shop windows, local paper etc.

murphaph

swanvill wrote: »

There are many tax advantageous with working from home

and some not so advantageous things! If you operate a business from your principal private residence, you will lose a proportion or all of your entitlement to claim mortgage interest relief TRS (assuming you have a mortgage). The biggest hit comes later though because a portion of your home is now being used as a commercial entity, that portion will be subject to capital gains tax when/if you sell your home in future (whereas your PPR is always exempt from CGT). It's a complicated subject so you should seek tax advice beforehand. You can of course claim a proportion of your heat and light as business expenses but you'll have to pay increased insurance premiums (pretty much all domestic home insurance policies specifically exclude running a business from the premises). If you have visitors calling to your business you may also have to provide disabled access/WC etc. and planning permission of course! Enterprise boards would be a good place to go as I'm sure they've seen this before.

niceirishfella

swanvill wrote: »

Hi Definitely ring your county enterprise board and look for grants/ business plan. You should also register a business name. There are many tax advantageous with working from home, pm if you need further info.

yeah, Defo register your business name with the CRO?
Question tho - when you've registered a name with the CRO, and don't trade for a bit till you get organised etc, are you liable for tax. Like do the CRO liase with revenue re; tax and new sole traders/co's registered? anyone know?

niceirishfella

murphaph wrote: »

and some not so advantageous things! If you operate a business from your principal private residence, you will lose a proportion or all of your entitlement to claim mortgage interest relief TRS (assuming you have a mortgage). The biggest hit comes later though because a portion of your home is now being used as a commercial entity, that portion will be subject to capital gains tax when/if you sell your home in future (whereas your PPR is always exempt from CGT)

The best way to avoid this is to work from a detached garage or office, and therefore you are not "in" or operating from your home technically. I have a pal who works from his "log cabin" @ the bottom of his garden avoiding all of the above, or so he assures me, tho' do check with your accountant.